My Soul To Take
by smilesXhugs
Summary: Eevee Anderson is one of the Riverton eight. She just moved to Riverton and makes fast friends with her cousin Alex and his best friend Bug. What will she do when thr Riverton eight start to get picked off one by one? Bug x OC
1. Chapter 1

I hadn't expected to receive all of this hype when I moved to this small town. I guess it started with my cousin, Alex. He was a bit annoying, but we would always hang out when he came out to visit us.

Coincidentally, Alex and I share birthdays. We were born on the same day and even in the same hospital. I was born in Riverton, but almost immediately afterwards the family moved up to Canada in Toronto.

Six months ago, my Dad died in a car accident. I was in the passenger seat when it happened. They say that Dad died instantly. I walked away with only a badly broken leg, broken shoulder, some organ bruising and a concussion. After months of physiotherapy I was finally sent to live with Alex and his stepdad Quint. My mom is still alive, but she was a hard-core drug abuser and the government placed me with our closest relatives. I was somewhat relieved. Mom wasn't exactly in the running for Mom of the Year.

Anyway, here I was, being driven by my social worker, Barb, to a town I don't even remember. I watched out the window with my forehead pressed lightly against the cool glass.

"Wake up, Evelyn." Barb called, tapping my shoulder.

"I _am _awake, Barb." I muttered. I pulled the hood of my grey hoodie over my head even more. _God, I wish I didn't leave my iPod in my suitcase. _

"Ok well I'm just letting you know that we're pulling up on the street now. You can see the house down the road already."

I stifled a yawn and sat up straight. Barb pointed out which house was Alex's and I stared at it groggily. It was never a mystery to me why Alex always visited us and not the other way around. I didn't know why, but I never really cared or bothered to ask.

We pulled into the drive way and I hopped out of the big dark blue Toyota truck. A thin layer of dirt clung to the bottom half of it from taking the gravel roads that were a shortcut to get here.

I didn't like the feeling I got from watching the woods we drove through when we took those roads. It felt as if something might be lurking inside them.

"Eevee!" someone called. I turned and smiled as my cousin Alex ran toward me. I smiled and ran into his arms.

"Hey, Lex!" I laughed, hugging him tightly. It felt like such a long time ago that I had been hugged. My friends back in Toronto seemed to think that I was too fragile to hug after the accident and soon I just lost connection with all of them. Even though I'm pretty much back to normal.

"I'm sorry. You know, about Uncle Jerry." Alex said, stepping back so we were arm's length of each other.

I shrugged my shoulders. "It's alright."

Alex just smiled that goofy smile of his and went to grab my stuff from the back of the truck. I would have done it myself, but my shoulder just wasn't the same after the accident. It wasn't completely useless. Nobody could tell I had been injured unless I tried to strain myself. I rubbed my shoulder absent mindedly as I watched him.

You could kind of see the resemblance between Alex and me. We were both the same height and had the same color of hair. Only mine was pin straight instead of curly and my eyes were almost an electric green. Dad always said I had magical eyes. A small smile graced my lips at the memory of him.

I didn't bother to say goodbye to Barb. She said that I was all settled for everything I needed, including school. No need for her to stick around anymore. I just hope that this is the last time social services have to bother me.

"And this is your room." Alex said, gesturing to the second door on the left of the upstairs hallway. "Mine is right there." He pointed to one across the hall two doors down. I looked into my room and saw all of my stuff already inside. "Are you gonna be ok with setting things up and whatever?"

"Yeah, I'm not a total gibble." I said with a smirk.

"Good, because you're coming to the memorial service this weekend." Alex exclaimed mischievously.

"What?"

"It's kind of a thing the kids around here do to commemorate the _death of the Riverton Ripper"! _He said with his best ghouly voice. "Plus the birthdays of the Riverton Seven- I guess Riverton eight now._"_

"Do I have to go?" I asked. "I don't even know who the Riverton Ripper is." I wasn't sure if I was up to going to any parties or stuff yet.

"Sorry Eevee. Frankly you ain't got a choice. I'll fill ya in on the details on the walk over there." Alex smirked. Then he ruffled my hair and disappeared in his room.

I sighed in defeat. I just hoped I wouldn't regret being roped into this whole Riverton Ripper stuff.


	2. Chapter 2

I stood next to Alex with a bunch of other kids around a big campfire. Behind us was a burned down ambulance that was covered with lit candles. I pulled out my iPhone to check the time and found out that it was almost midnight.

"Yo, you guys!" Alex called. Two guys walked up to us. One was Asian with spiky black hair and the other was black and he had a walking stick in his hand. "Jay, Jerome. This is my lovely cousin, Evelyn." He introduced.

"Hey" I said.

"Jay Chan!" Jay stepped forward, taking my hand to shake. I smiled greeting to him.

"Nice to meet you." Jerome said. I smiled, even though he was obviously blind.

Alex introduced me to the rest of the kids. Unfortunately, he just _had _to tell everyone that I was also born the same day the Ripper was killed. I met all six of the other seven Riverton seven kids. Jay and Jerome seemed nice enough, clearly buds with Alex. Then there was Penelope who was super sweet. Brittany, nice enough but kind of snobbish. And Brandon. Can you say douche?

"Hmm. I wonder where Bug is." Alex pondered. He mentioned Bug, but I haven't met him yet. Apparently he was one of the birthday kids.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Brandon shouted, standing on a stump so he towered over everyone else. "The countdown is near! If you may all please turn your attention to the church please!"

Across the lake you could see buildings, and the only one with a light remaining lit was a small white church. Everyone counted to twelve. Then five seconds later the lights went out and everybody cheered.

"As you all know, Ripper Day marks two things. One of them bad and one of them good." Brandon began his speech.

Alex nudged my shoulder and smiled. I pushed him back, giving him a _what is the point of this shit _look.

Brandon went on. "The good part is that it's the birthday of seven of us here. Oh wait, actually eight of us now. It seems that the lovely Evelyn Anderson was also born sixteen years ago tonight at Riverton Hospital."

I felt eyes on me and I made a slight wave of my hand nervously.

"And there is also Jerome King. Hey Jerome." Everyone cheered and Jerome waved. "Alex Dunklemen." Alex waved. "Jay Chan, who made our puppet for tonight." Jay threw his hands up as people cheered. "Bug Hellermen… Hellermen?"

Everyone looked around for the guy, but he didn't seem to be around. Then there was a rustling in the bushes behind us and a tall guy with shaggy dirty blond hair walked through the crowd with his hands in his jacket pockets. His eyes looked tired and his hair was all ruffled. He stood on the other side of Alex.

"Where've ya been?" Alex asked.

"Sleeping." Bug replied monotone. I looked at him with narrowed eyes. There was something about him I couldn't put my finger on.

"Bug, uh takes a little longer cause he's a little slower so." Brandon added to Bug's arrival.

"What a dirtbag." I muttered.

"Hush!" Alex shushed me. "You don't want on the guy's bad side, Eevee. Trust me."

"Pssh! What's he gonna do? Hit me?" I sneered.

"He's not afraid to hit girls. I'll tell ya that much." Alex replied.

"He doesn't scare me." I replied smugly.

"And moving on to Penelope Bryte over there by the ambulance, who incidentally knows God. They speak daily." Brandon joked, getting another chuckle out of everyone. I was seriously starting to hate this kid. "And then to the beautiful and gorgeous Brittany Cunningham." A couple wolf whistles sounded from the crowd and she smiled.

"And last, but certainly not least," he said with a cheeky grin.

"Brandon O'neil!" everyone shouted.

_Oh jeez. What. A. Tool._

"And now the bad part people. We of the Riverton _eight _have had to share our birthday with a monster. The serial killer, Abel Plankof, who died at midnight, the day we were born. The Ripper." Brandon told with a serious look on his face.

I was starting to feel uneasy as he kept talking. I don't know why this story was freaking me out, even a little bit. I watched scary movies at home all the time and they never bugged me.

"Legend has it that we of the Riverton eight are the mirrors of Abel Plankof's personality. That the Ripper still wants revenge. So Abel Plankof is dead… but his ghost isn't."

"Alex, I don't like this." I muttered.

"Chill Eev." Alex whispered back. I figured he was right and I was just being a baby. I mentally slapped myself and listened to Brandon.

"No, it lurks underneath the old railroad bridge. You've seen it. It sleeps in the river. It roams the darkest corners of the woods, just waiting for the next Ripper Day to come around. On that day, _our birthday, _tonight the Devil has told him that he can take his revenge,"

Then Brandon turned and pointed to the river. He raised his voice. "BUT he can only come out at this spot, and every year, since we have been able, one of us Riverton eight has volunteered to drive him back to the river where he belongs! Tonight is no exception, and I personally have chosen to volunteer…"

A few muttered to themselves in disbelief.

"Have volunteered Bug Hellerman that is." He gestured to Bug, I looked at Bug. He looked genuinely _not _thrilled about it. His eyes widened a bit and he stood there frozen.

"It's your turn Bug!" Brandon shouted. "The rest of us have done it!"

I could feel my heartbeat in my wrist and I was getting nervous. _Why am I getting nervous? Dammit._

"We will now summon the Ripper from the river. If he appears yet again, than Bug must slay him or we'll all die!"

Kids cheered and shouted things like "Save us Bug!" "Come on, Bug!" and whatever. I stayed silent and watched the poor boy seem to become more and more terrified by the second.

"If you can hear me Ripper, make yourself known!" Brandon yelled to the river.

Everyone began to chant over and over, "Make yourself known!" Bug shifted from one foot to the other nervously.

I sighed and reached over to touch his arm. "Hey, Bug. It's ok." I said.

Bug looked down at me, being he was way taller than me. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Eevee. I'm Alex's cousin."

"Oh." He replied, but he seemed too focused on being scared to really pay attention to me.

"Alex." I said. He looked at me and then at Bug and realised.

"Fear ye the Ripper!" they all shouted. Alex smacked Jerome's shoulder.

"Bug is freaking, man." He explained.

The sound of branches breaking made me jump and I whipped my head to face the woods to the left of us. Out of the woods a huge body emerged. It had long hair and large black holes for eyes.

Alex gripped Bug's shoulders and pushed him forward. "It's a puppet. Just knock it over." Bug just stood there and stared at it.

"AH, get in there you pussy!" Brandon cried, pushing Bug forward.

I ran up to Alex and grabbed his arm. "I'm not sure about this."

"It's not real, E. Bug can do it." He said.

As the huge puppet got closer, Bug started to step back. He looked at me and Alex. "I can't do this." He said. His eyes were ten times wider than before.

Sirens could be heard and a police car showed up. Alex grabbed my wrist and pulled me along. "Time to go." He said. I looked at Bug as the puppet collapsed at his feet.

"Come on!" Alex called to him. We ran passed him and I grabbed his sleeve as we did. We booked it to the woods like everyone else. In a hurry to escape, Bug fell in the river at one point. I kind of laughed in the excitement of it all and helped him out of the water. Then we all ran and hid behind a big fallen log.

"What the fuck was that? Why'd they stop us?" Alex laughed.

I sat down on the cool dirt between Jay and Bug and sighed. "Well it's not like it was much fun."

"Don't be a buzz kill, Eevee." Alex sneered.

"Bite me, Lexi." I replied, sticking my tongue out at him.

"Why so glum, chum?" Jay asked Bug. Who was soaked and kind of staring off.

"I failed." He replied simply. "Now we're all gonna die and it's my fault."

I sighed and thought about the whole story, not really paying attention to what Jay was saying to Bug. It still wierded me out how the story of the Ripper scared me so much. I do gotta give Jay his props for making such a badass puppet.

Alex smacked my shoulder and I snapped back to reality to hear the last bit about something about a presentation that Alex and Bug were doing. Than Jay took off and so did Jerome.

"We should too." Alex said. "Quint will kill us if he catches us out this late."

"He'll kill you." I corrected. Quint wouldn't dare touch me. From the way I threatened to call my social worker and get him arrested the first time he tried to hit me, I doubted he'd pull a stunt like that again.

I winced when I tried to stand up. My leg felt seriously strained and it even started to tingle from lack of circulation.

"Are you ok?" Bug asked when he noticed me.

"Stupendous." I replied. I tried to lift myself up my grabbing the log, but I guess my ass was too damn fat and a shot of pain went through my shoulder. I dropped down, landing on my butt hard. "Dammit." I cursed.

"Here." Bug said, holding his hand out to me. I smiled and took his hand and he helped me up.

"Thanks." I huffed.

"Are you hurt or something?" Bug asked as we started to walk back to our homes.

"Um, kind of. I was in a car accident six months ago." I replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Bug replied.

I smiled at him. "It's alright. I got off easy."

"What do you mean?" Bug asked.

I frowned a bit, not answering him. _Why did I bring that up? _I trudged a bit past him so I was ahead of him and Alex.

"What did she mean, Alex?"

I sighed and proceeded to tune them out. As my feet trudged through the underbrush of the forest trail, I couldn't help but frown at the horrible feeling I was getting in the pit of my stomach.


	3. Chapter 3

**HEYY! (: Yeah just sayin that I would absotively posilutely LOOOOOVE reviews from all of my readers :3. That would be stupendous! **

As embarrassing as it is, I slept in Alex's room that night. He kindly ditched the bed so I could sleep on it. I felt better knowing he was in the room, but it didn't really stop the nightmares of the Ripper.

The next morning I got up to get ready for my first day of school. I showered and put on a light blue A & F t-shirt, black skinny jeans and my pair of red converse all-stars. I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom, which was right across from Alex's room. I could hear him laughing as he was watching some creepy old movie.

"Hey! Asswipe!" Quint yelled,

"Uh oh." I muttered. I spit in the sink and stood in the bathroom doorway to kind of watch and make sure shit didn't get out of hand with Quint.

"Get your little butt to school before I put my boot up it." He threatened. He started to leave and then stopped and turned. "Let's go! You too, bitch!" he barked at me.

I glared at Quint angrily as I walked across the hall to my room to grab my stuff. I made it to the bottom of the steps when I saw Alex walking down with a painful expression on his face and Quint watching him calling him a dumb shit.

"Thanks Quint. That felt good." Alex said, every word dripping hate and sarcasm.

"Jackass." I growled.

"Oi! Respect me you little bitch or I'll smack the living shit out of you!" Quint yelled.

I scoffed. "Not unless you want a law suit shoved down your throat. See ya."

Alex and I walked over to Bug's house, which wasn't far from ours.

"Stay," he ordered.

"Woof." I replied. "Just hurry up."

Alex saluted me like the total dork that he is and climbed up the side of the house through a second story window. I sighed and kicked some leaves with my show as I waited.

A huge duffle bag fell to the floor and I screamed.

"Sorry!" Bug called out to me as he climbed out the window. Both boys approached me and we all started walking to the school.

"What's in there?" I asked, looking at the oversized bundle in Bug's arms.

"Sock puppet." Bug replied simply.

"On steroids!" I shouted. Both boys looked at each other and burst into laughter. I looked back and forth between the two of them. "What?"

"Yeah. On steroids." Bug laughed.

On the walk to school I learned a few things. Bug likes Brittany. Both boys like crows and they want to go to Vegas. I've been to Vegas. Don't think Bug would have fun there. Bug mentioned something about fluids and that's when I put my headphones in and started to listen to Skillet.

"Hey Bug you got a phone?" Alex asked. Bug nodded and handed the phone to Alex. He opened it, it was a cheap little flip phone, and put him number in it. "E's number's in there too FYI?"

"Why'd you put my number in there?" I asked.

"In case Bug loses interest in Brit." Alex said with a wink.

My cheeks grew warm with a blush and I was glad that Bug's phone rang. He answered it on speakerphone and talked to his mom. Then this Chandelle or whatever showed up to talk to Jerome and we walked toward the school. I noticed this girl giving me dirty looks.

"Who's the chick looking at me funny?" I asked.

Bug and Alex looked at me and then looked where I was looking. "Oh no." Alex groaned.

"What?"

"That's Fang." he explained. "If she's casting her icy glares your way you better say your prayers now, girl."

"Uh huh." What's with the kids in this town?

Bug gave his _puppet _to the security guard and we proceeded to walk up the steps. Brittany Cunningham walked passed us and the boys stopped to stare at her. I was forced to stop too since I would be lost otherwise and just watch them watch her. Ugh, boys.

She was talking to the security guard. Alex's face went from awestruck teenage boy as he quoted Shakespeare, to horrible realisation. "Uh oh. Distraction manoeuvre. Run!" They booked it; almost running into me, but Brandon appeared next to me and pushed them back.

"Bug. This is a three." He said. Than he punched him in the shoulder. "Dunkleman. This is an eight." And he kneed him in the nuts. Alex collapsed to the ground in pain. I stood horrified at the whole thing.

"And that's the way the cookie crumbles." Brandon said. "Dunkleman, stay away from the fang zone. And you stay away from him."

"Hey, jerkwad!" I shouted. "What the hell is your problem!"

"Eevee, no." Bug warned, grabbing my arm.

"No!" I protested. "This spoiled bastard's ticked me off the moment I looked at him!"

"Let it go." Bug whispered in my ear. I looked at him, his eyes boring into mine pleadingly. I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Keep your lady on a leash, Bug." Brandon laughed as he stepped back.

"Thanks Brandon. Felt good." Alex called after him from the ground.

"Asswipe." Brandon called back, not bothering to look back as he walked away.

"Not has good as your mom did last night though." Alex added.

Brandon turned around. "You just bought yourself a twenty."

"Oh hell no." I growled, moving to meet Brandon head on.

"No!" Bug shouted in alarm, grabbing me around the waist.

"Brandon O'neil!" Penelope came out of nowhere and started to shout at Brandon about Hell and stuff. She gave Brandon quite an earful, adding something about him getting a girl pregnant at the end. This left Brandon horrified and speechless as he walked off.

"Penelope!" I cheered as she walked up to us. "You are amazing!"

She smiled her praise at me and then turned to Bug and her smile got even bigger. "Hey Bug. Happy Birthday."

Ooh. Somebody's smitten on Bug, I see. Interesting. And to confirm that thought she kissed him on the cheek, but not before she said something really creepy. She looked into Bug's eyes and said, "Pray for our souls, he's coming."

Creepy much?

"Ok! Awesome." I said, breaking the silence that followed after Penelope left and we walked to our first class.

"Why does Penelope have to say things like that?" Bug asked.

"Parallel universe, baby." Alex replied.

I walked in front of them and opened the door. "I don't understand her sometimes." Bug said. "I mean, the way she said that." He stopped Alex right in front of me and stared at him. "Pray for our souls, Bug. He's coming."

"Whoa." I breathed. What is with this kid?

"What if she meant the Ripper? I'm scared." Bug admitted. He looked at me, noticing that I was staring at him, and then looked at the floor. I couldn't help but notice that he was blushing a bit.

I sighed. "The Ripper isn't going to come after us, Bug. Besides, how the hell would he even know who the Riverton eight kids are? It's not like he waltzed into the hospital and stole records of who was born that night."

Bug looked at me. "You're not scared?"

"Not even." I replied with a smile. "You should just enjoy your birthday."

He tried to smile back, but it faltered and he looked back down. "Still…"

"Hey, we're sixteen, Bug. Like it or not, we're men now." Alex said, patting Bug's shoulder. Alex nudged passed me and I followed the guys up the stairs.

"I don't feel like a man." Bug said, following Alex next to me.

"No man does. That's why you gotta fake it."

"Fake being a man to be a man?" Bug asked, soaking in every word that Alex was feeding him.

"That's the way it works." Alex replied. He turned to face Bug. "Look, you can't run. You gotta face your fear like a man."

"Even though I'm not a man." Bug added.

_Oh my God. Alex, you idiot. _I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose between my thumb and index finger. I yawned and rubbed my eyes. I didn't get much sleep last night.

"Because you're not a man. Listen, the better you fake it, the better man you are." Alex explained. Bug looked at Alex like he was giving him the most important life lesson of all time.

"Just fake it." Bug repeated with a nod and a smile.

"But fake it good. Like if you're scared, act like you don't give a shit. Or if someone hurts you, say 'Thank you very much. That felt wonderful.'"

"Shut up Alex." I said, getting annoyed. "You don't know poopy about that."

Alex faced me. "You wouldn't understand because you're a V and not a P like us."

I scoffed. "Oh! Yeah, that's your explanation for everything."

"Men are talking, woman! Go make me a sandwich or something!" Alex ordered loudly, pointing away from him and Bug to tell me to leave.

I grabbed Alex's finger and bent it back. A short little yelp escaped his lips and I smirked. "Mr. Man, does that feel wonderful?"

Alex whimpered and pulled away from me. Then he stood up and straight and stared me down. Though that's not possible, being he's a midget and all. "Thanks, Eevee! That felt so damn _wonderful_!" he said happily.

"Uh huh." I groaned. I noticed Bug watching us and nodding at Alex, like he was putting on a demonstration of his fake manliness. _Oh, God. _

"You see?" Alex asked, turning to Bug with a smug look on his face.

"Thanks Brandon, th- I can't' raise my arm. It feels good." Bug said.

"There you go!" Alex beamed.

There was no helping these two! I shook my head and turned to leave, deciding to try and find the classroom myself. I turned a corner, looked around and already felt lost.

"Whoa, whoa. Hey, Eevee." Bug called out to me. He ran ahead of Alex and caught up to me. "I'm sorry…"

I smiled. "Why?"

"Well…uh…" Bug stammered.

I blushed and my smile grew. "Don't sweat it."

**Yeah… I know not a whole lot happened in this chapter. Basically it's just a bunch of foreshadowing for our cute little Eevee here ;). ANYWAYSS the Condor prezi is up next. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW okee? :P Awesome! **


	4. Chapter 4

Honestly, it doesn't matter what school you go to. Biology is booooooring. The teacher, some guy, I don't even remember his name, talked on and on about the unit that they were closing up on. I already knew what he was talking about since I finished it all already while I was in the hospital for the past few months. The thing about that situation with my physiotherapy and all that fun stuff is I didn't really have a whole hell of a lot to do. So I was driven to actually _doing _my homework out of sheer boredom. Yay…

I didn't force myself to stay conscious of the words spewing out of the mouth of the dude at the front of the class. Within the first ten minutes my eyes were closed and my arms shielded my face from the sun coming in through the blinds. I was in that inbetween state where you don't really know if you were ever asleep or not.

Until some stupid immature child by the name of Dunkleman flicked my ear!

I jumped up and a small squeak escaped me as I looked up at my tormentor. I glared up at Alex, who was laughing at me, and Bug was standing right behind him trying to hide his chuckles with his hand over his mouth.

"Pay attention Eevee. This is gonna be good." Alex smirked, patting my shoulder before he made his way to the front of the class.

Alex retrieved the huge _sock puppet _from Mr. Teach and crouched over it as Bug faced the class. I tried to peer around Alex's body to see the thing, but he was trying to keep it a surprise until the opportune moment I guess.

"Back From The Brink; by Adam Hellermen and Alex Dunkleman." Bug started.

"Dumb-fuckleman." Brandon mumbled under his breathe. Some of the kids laughed and the teacher gave him a warning.

I glared at Brandon, who caught me looking at him and sent me a wink and an air kiss. In my head I was upchucking. He looked back at the front and when he did I pelted an eraser at his face. It hit him pretty hard.

"Why you little b-"

"Brandon! Sit down! Miss Anderson! This is your first warning." The teacher shouted. I slumped back in my chair with a small smile on my face as the teacher told Bug he could continue.

"Our subject today is about a bird…" Bug began. Then he started to squint and rub his temple in pain.

I leaned forward. As did others. It was pretty obvious he was in pain.

"Are you having another one of your migraines, Adam?" the teacher asked.

Bug opened his eyes and just shook his head. He looked down and watched Alex as he murmured something to himself. Bug stood there watching for another moment as if he were in a trance.

"Adam." The teacher yelled.

Bug snapped to attention and faced us. "Our subject today is the largest bird in North America." Bug said in a booming voice. It startled everybody because he never talked like that, and it didn't even sound like his own voice.

I felt chills run down my spine when his voice rang through me. It was a bad kind of chill, like when you whip off the blankets in the middle of a winter night, and you just want to crawl back under them again.

"Unchanged since the Pleistocene Epoch and only recently rescued from extinction. I present to you _Gymnogyps californianus." _he continued. Alex turned around with some black thing draping over his shoulders. Then he leaned forward to whip a part of it over his head. It looked like a creepy looking bird head.

"Anus." Brandon coughed.

"Second warning, Brandon!" Teacher warned.

"The California Condor!" Bug announced.

Alex leaped up and spread his arms out. Revealing a scary looking bird costume. It had had large black wings made of an umbrella and strips garbage bags and feathers. Its head was pink and featherless. It was utterly disturbing.

Bug gripped Alex's shoulders and spoke in his ear. "Are you ready? Fly now!" and he pushed Alex into the crowd of kids.

I squealed and ducked as the bird's wings swept over our heads. Bug kept speaking in his booming voice as Alex kept flying around and making a bunch of squawking noises, scaring everybody. I covered my mouth to keep from laughing. Then Alex landed into a crouch at the front and was breathing heavily in a menacing way.

"The California Condor can consume the carcass of a cow in one day." Bug informed.

"Bullshit." Brandon laughed.

The Condor whipped around and it seemed to be staring at Brandon with its big non-existent eyes. Bug did a _really _good job on this puppet.

Alex growled and leaped forward to the closest student, making him yelp and slide his desk away. Alex got closer and scared another student away. He jumped at me and I squealed in laughter and leaned away from him so he didn't hit my face with his mask. Then he stood in front of Brandon and stared him down.

Bug started to talk again. "And if anyone tries to harm it, if anyone so much as touches one of its feathers, just one…" I could tell he was provoking Brandon, obviously setting him up for something.

Brandon smirked and ripped off one of the feathers. It made everyone gasp in fear and I smiled. I didn't know what was going to happen, but I couldn't wait to see what he would do.

"What are you gonna do? Bite me, asshole?" Brandon said.

"Uh-uh." Alex mumbled. Then he lifted his head up and a slew of green liquid that looked like pea soup sprayed all over Brandon's face. Everyone shrieked. I did to but it turned into laughter when I saw the look on Brandon's face.

"The bird will vomit copiously on its tormentor!" Bug shouted over the screams. I started laughing uncontrollably and got out of my desk in case a brawl ensued.

Brandon angrily flung his desk out of his way. It flew across the floor and unfortunately right into my bad leg. I fell back and grimaced in pain, but I didn't stop watching the show.

Brandon chased Alex down and tackled him to the floor, fists flying and feet kicking. Alex hunched over, away from Brandon.

"And if that doesn't work, the great bird has another defense, too." Bug added.

The teacher grabbed Brandon by the arm to pull him off of Alex, but Brandon just started to kick and try to get at Alex again.

"Bottle two, Alex!" Bug called. Then a bunch of brown liquid prayed all over Brandon's shoe. Girls shrieked again, and I even have to admit I was starting to get grossed out.

"And that is why no one should ever screw with the California condor!" Bug disclosed.

Brandon got in one last kick and Alex just laid there laughing. "Thank you, Brandon. That felt so good!" he laughed, bug grin on his face.

I pulled myself up with a shooting pain going up my leg, but a smile was still plastered on my face. That was amazing! I take all that Bio being boring crap back.

I limped over to Alex and Bug. "That was epic!" I cheered. "I'd hug ya, Lex, but you're covered in fake upchuck."

"You like it." Alex said with a smile. "Are you ok?"

I rubbed my leg and smiled. "I'll tough it out." Then I turned to Bug. "You are my new best friend, Adam Hellerman! Brandon is scarred!"

"Thanks." Bug grinned widely at me. Suddenly his smile vanished and he started to gag. He turned away from me and leaned over the teacher's desk. Th next second he was running out the door.

I watched him fly out of the room and I looked at Alex.

Alex shrugged. "Bug has… deficiencies?"

My eyebrows knitted together in worry. "I don't think that's a proper word for it." I said.

"Don't worry about it, E. He's ok." Alex assured me with a smile. Then the teacher walked over to us and gave me permission to go to the nurse. He was yelling at Alex as I walked out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**SO yeah, haven't updated this story in a while, but im just sayin now that I got sick of going by the movie word by word, pausing it after every few seconds and copying it down, it frankly was starting to take the fun out of writing it. SO im just gonna go by memory. Im still watching the movie to make sure I don't miss anything, but im not going completely by the script. SO there you go ;)**

I sat in a chair in the nurse's office when the bell went off. It was last period and here I was with an icepack on my hip. Just great.

I sighed and slumped over the armrest. Today was turning out to be a hoot. Let's just say I've hoped for a better sweet sixteen than this. I still hope that it doesn't get any worse…

"Alright, sweety." The old nurse cooed as she sat down in the chair facing me. She was one of those soft, super friendly nurses that you just love right off the spot. The kind of person you'd want to hear the bad news from, and not from those snappy harsh nurses that just get the job done and go. "Let's take a look at that leg. Where does it hurt?"

I pulled the icepack off and could feel a tingling again from lack of circulation. "Everywhere?" I replied.

She chuckled softly, which made me smile. I couldn't help but smile. Despite her age she was like a ray of sunshine. I liked her. "Well I took a look at your medical records and hooey is it ever a doozey!"

I laughed and shrugged me shoulders. "Yeah, that's the big reason I guess."

"Hurts like a bitch, doesn't it?" she smirked.

I gasped. She just didn't seem like the kind of person that should say bad words, but I laughed anyway.

"Anywho, there isn't much I can do dear. Just keep ice on it until the swelling goes down. You should be fine as long as you take it easy." She said.

I pushed myself out of the chair and shook her brittle hand. "Thank you, ma'am."

"You're welcome, sweetheart." She said with another bright smile. "Oh. By the way, dear, it might be best if you don't hang around those two boys, Alex and Adam. Especially today."

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why? Does everyone believe in these Ripper rumours?"

"Some of us don't think they are rumours." She replied with a solemn stare. "Just be careful, alright?"

I sighed. "Yeah, alright."

"Good. Do you want a sucker before you go, dear?" she chirped, picking up a plastic bucket and shaking it.

I smiled. "Sure."

The hallway was spookily empty and I decided to skip. I would have been whistling if I wasn't sucking on a lemon flavoured lollipop, so I hummed. I liked to act childish sometimes. I skipped and hummed and the sounds echoed off the walls.

"Ahhh!" someone screamed. I jumped and shrieked in response. Then another scream erupted, but it sounded like a boy's scream. I automatically broke into a run and ripped down the hallway towards the commotion.

I turned the corner and practically toppled over Alex, who was hunched over and peering over the next corner.

"Alex!" I cried, catching myself from falling, but succeeding in pushing him to the ground.

"Ow! Eevee! What the hell!" he complained from the ground.

"Sorry." I said with a smirk, holding my hand out to him. I gasped in pain when I pulled him up. I guess I kind of forgot how much I was hurting when I started running.

"You ok?" Alex asked.

I nodded and put the icepack back on my thigh. "It's all good. What happened?"

"Bug got caught." Alex said with a frown.

"Out! Out you perv! Ugh!" I recognized Brittany Cunningham shrieking angrily. I looked around the corner and saw Bug sprinting away from her. There was a huge blush clear across his cheeks.

"Mission accomplished?" Alex asked.

"It fell into her purse." Bug gasped with a frown.

I looked between the two. "What happened? Why were you in the bathroom, Bug?"

They were both silent and wouldn't answer.

"Oh no." I muttered to myself. "I knew it. It's always the quiet, introverted types…."

"What?" they both asked in unison.

I sighed, looking up at Bug. "Bug, I know you're a growing teenage boy and you got all that testosterone and whatever… but you have to learn self-control."

"What!" Bug cried in surprise. "It... i-it wasn't anything like that! It really wasn't!" he stammered.

I broke into laughter and shook my head. "Whatever, horndogs."

School was soon over and Alex and I walked through the front entrance of the school. I kind of lost track of thought and began to walk aimlessly around since Alex didn't seem too keen on going home just yet. This was fine with me. Home wasn't really my home. It never would be. Not with Quint around.

I stood in the courtyard, kind of wasting time because I really didn't want to go home just yet. I scuffed my shoes across the pavement and looked up at the sky as the rest of the kids left. I stared up at the clouds. _At least the weather is nice today_. I thought.

I came back to earth and saw Alex talking to Bug. I started to walk towards them when Alex suddenly took off towards the exit.

"What?" I called out to him.

"Something I gotta take care of. I'll see you at the house!" Alex shouted.

"Kay!" I called back. I grumbled after Alex disappeared. I didn't wanna go home by myself. That dick Quint might get brave all of a sudden if I was alone with him. I turned and saw Bug sitting all by himself. Then Brittany walked passed him, said a couple things and left him with a frown on his face. I chewed on the inside of my cheek and decided to keep him company. Well, more him keep me company.

"Hey." I greeted him as I approached. He looked up at me when I did and smiled up at me sweetly.

"Hey, Eevee. What's up?"

"Oh, you know. I'm livin' the dream." I replied sarcastically. He scooted over and put his backpack on the ground so I could sit next to him.

"You don't like that house." Bug stated, rather than asked.

"I love Alex and all, but yeah… can't say I'm too thrilled with my living arrangements. I'm grateful, but it still kinda sucks." I said, looking out at the walls surrounding us.

"Um…"

"Hmm?" I faced Bug again when he didn't say anything.

"Why did you come here all of a sudden? I- I mean, not that I don't mind or anything like that."

I giggled at his blush. It was too cute when this kid tripped over his words like that.

I ran my fingers through my bangs and looked out again at the far wall of the courtyard. "6 months ago my Dad took me to see a movie. I forget which one it was. I don't remember a whole lot about that night really. Anyway, it was dark and we were driving back to our apartment. Then we had a head-on collision with another driver. He was drunk and passed into our lane all of a sudden."

I felt the smallest sting of tears coming up but I blinked them back and cleared the lump out of my throat_. I thought I'd be ok to talk about it by now…_ "I hurt my head and messed up my leg and shoulder pretty bad in the crash. I was in the hospital for a very long time. And my Dad… They told me he died instantly."

There was a small awkward silence after, that I could honestly say I was expecting. I didn't expect to share such a personal thing with a guy I've only known for half a day.

Bug finally cleared his throat. "I'm so sorry. I have never met my dad."

"Really?"

"Yeah… I guess it's better to have no dad then to lose one you are so close to." Bug said awkwardly, looking at his shoes.

I smiled at how cute he was being. Then I looked up at the sky, still smiling. "I love my dad, I'm sure he's in heaven, watching over me."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Bug looking up at the sky too. "Maybe my dad's up there too?"

"Maybe." I shrugged.

That's when we heard footsteps coming from the other side of the yard. I tilted my head back down and saw Brandon just catch sight of us. When he did a huge grin graced his smug face. He pounded his fist into his hand as he walked towards us.

"Pay. Back. Time!" he bellered, directing his wrath on both of us.

I stood up with a growl, but Bug quickly stood and put himself between me and an angry Brandon. _Awe he's being chivalrous. _I thought with a smile. The smile left quickly as Brandon came up with fists ablazin'. I pulled on my sleeve nervously. Seems the guy was ready to beat both of us up.

"Don't think so, jockstrap!" Jerome replied. I jumped when he appeared next to us, seemingly out of nowhere. _He's like a blind Spiderman! _I thought. "You know what Fang would do to you if she saw you off your little leash."

"Nobody's looking." Brandon smirked. He looked down at me menacingly, more then he looked at the other two.

"Well somebody's listening, Sasquatch." Jerome replied, putting an arm between him and me, as if he could sense everything going on.

Brandon took a small step back, but didn't back off just yet. "Peachy. You know I'll just let the Ripper get you three instead. A lot of people have already seen him today, you know. It's not even dark yet." Then he looked at Bug, who looked a bit nervous at the change of subject. "It must be scary, living in that big house with no father to protect you."

Oh no he didn't. I was so not going to be the girl that stands back while the boys have their moment and Brandon shoots all that douchebag crap at Bug. I shoved my way between Bug and Jerome and without a word I raised my fist and decked him on that pretty-boy nose of his. He threw his head back and cried out in pain.

"Eevee!" Bug gasped in surprise, pulling me away from Brandon by my wrist. I looked over my shoulder and saw the surprised look on his face. Then I looked back and watched Brandon writhe in pain. I couldn't help but smile. That dick deserved that and more.

"You bitch!" he sobbed. Yeah, he was actually sobbing. He opened his eyes and looked down at his hands. They were covered in blood. He choked as the blood poured out of his face. He looked horrified. I tried not to laugh. It seemed that Brandon was such a _badass _that nobody had ever even bothered to pick a fight with him.

"Are you ok?" I asked sarcastically. He didn't reply, but just ran off with his hands over his nose.

"I can't believe you did that?" Bug said. I turned around and faced both boys. They both looked impressed. I expected Bug might be mad at me, but I guess he's been wishing something like that would happen to Brandon for some time now. We all smiled.

Jerome chuckled. "You know, I bet if you looked up rectum in the dictionary, they'd have a picture of Brandon there." I laughed at that. Though I could think of much better words that would fit Brandon much better.

Jerome reached out with both hands and put one on my shoulder, the other on Bug's. "You two don't know fear. Bug, you puked on Brandon, and you Eevee punched him in the face! You guys are heroes of the revolution."

I heard footsteps and looked between Jerome and Bug to see Penelope walking towards us. I smiled and waved at her. She did the same back.

"Hey Penelope." Jerome called to her. I looked up at him in surprise.

"How'd you know it was me?" Penelope asked.

Jerome started to walk away with a smile. "You're wearing those squeaky shoes again. See ya."

"Bye Jerome!" I called out to him.

I sighed and sat back down on the bench. I flexed my now soar hand. My knuckles popped painfully, but it made me feel a bit better. I looked up at Penelope, who was looking admirably at Bug before she too sat down, leaving a space for him to sit between the two of us. "So you're going to see Principle Pratt?" she asked Bug.

"Yeah… in fifteen minutes. If he calls my mom at work I'm… doomed." He explained with a defeated look.

Penelope nudged him with her elbow. "We're all doomed Bug. It's the next life we gotta focus on. Right, Eevee?"

I nodded in agreement. I believed in God, I just wasn't the huge religious type like Penelope was. If I were I wouldn't have broken Brandon's nose.

Penelope then quickly took off after getting a text from some girl. She said goodbye to Bug, and said that if things got too hot to just turn on the prayer conditioning. I rolled my eyes at how lame that was.

I waved goodbye to Penelope as she left. "She's really nice…" I said partially to myself. I expected a yeah or whatever, but Bug was silent. "Hey Bug?" No reply. I tapped his shoulder. He was hunched over a bit. I leaned forward to look at his face, and the expression he wore creeped me out. "Bug?"

"Bug, it's best not to think about your nightmares today." He said quickly, still looking away from me. He stood up and started to pace.

"What?" I asked, tapping his shoulder a bit harder.

"I've got to cross that bridge twice a day. Shop! That's what I do when I'm scared. You don't know what fear is Bug!" he rambled on and on.

I stood up slowly. "Bug, you're scaring me…"

He looked down at me now, with a slight smirk playing on his face. "It must be pretty scary… living in that big house… with no father to protect you…"

I frowned. I was scared and a little angry now too. That was what Brandon said to Bug minutes ago, and now he's directing it at me. "Bug!"

He blinked, a surprised look on his face now. "Uh…"

"What the hell." I murmured.

Bug rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and looked down at me. "Eevee?"

"What happened just now Bug?"

Bug frowned, his eyes still wide. He looked really freaked out. "I gotta go." Then he took off towards the school.

I watched him go. When he finally disappeared inside I sighed, and I started to walk home.

**WOO this was a long one :D haha anyways REVIEW and maybe ill update faster ;)**


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